Transfer traffic revives fortunes for CPH

Copenhagen Airport CEO: “It’s crucial to our position as an international hub in northern Europe that we are able to develop long-haul routes.”

Copenhagen Airport is seeing growth in the number of transfer passengers, in excess of 8% in September, and SAS accounts for 80% of this transfer traffic.

In total, almost 2.8 million passengers travelled through the CPH terminals during the month, 4.5% more than the same month last year.

But it is the intercontinental and transfer traffic that is so important for this hub, with intercontinental route traffic rising 12.8% and the number of transfer passengers growing 8.1%.

The airport saw exactly 2,216,059 transfer passengers during the first nine months of the year, corresponding to a growth of 1.3% compared to the same period last year.

“If we take a look behind the figures, it’s primarily the long-haul direct routes from Copenhagen to destinations outside Europe that are driving the growth in transfer traffic,” CEO Thomas Woldbye explains.

“To put it briefly, increasing numbers of people are flying from northern Europe via Copenhagen and on to our many destinations in North America and Asia.”

Northern hub
SAS accounts for 80% of the transfer traffic in Copenhagen, but airlines such as Norwegian, Air Canada and Air India are also contributing to the growth of transfer traffic this year.

“It’s crucial to our position as an international traffic hub in northern Europe that we remain able to develop the long-haul routes, so that as many people as possible choose to head out into the world via Copenhagen rather than opting for alternatives such as Paris, London or Frankfurt,” Woldbye says.

Copenhagen currently has 37 intercontinental routes, and in December another one opens to Chengdu in China.

Compared to the major airports in Stockholm and Oslo, Copenhagen saw the biggest increase in passenger numbers in September. It is proving to be a rebound from the comparative slump seen at the end of last year and start of this year.

Oslo Airport in September had 3.5% more passengers than in the same month last year, while Stockholm Arlanda saw a decline of 1.1% in passenger numbers. In particular, it is the domestic routes that are decreasing in Scandinavia’s main airports, with a 1.6% decline in the number of domestic passengers using CPH in September.